6 - behavioural ecology

Define ethology

study of animal behaviour from an evolutionary perspective

What are proximate mechanisms

neuronal, hormonal, and anatomical mechanisms

Define ultimate causes

selection pressures that shaped the evolution of the behaviour

What are Tinbergen’s four questions

• adaptation/function - how does the behaviour increase the animals fitness?

• evolution - how did the behaviour evolve and how has selection changed over time?

• causation - what are the triggers or stimuli that cause the behaviour to be performed?

• ontogeny - how has the behaviour changed over the lifetime of the animal?

List 2 words to describe animal behaviour

unlearned and stereotypic (always the same)

What is stereotypic behaviour usually?

species specific

Describe the hawk/goose effect

baby birds show a reaction to a hawk like silhouette but no reaction to a goose like silhouette

Give an example of inherited behaviour in birds (2 points)

male songbirds have species specific songs used in territorial displays and courtship

• white crowned sparrows must hear the song when they’re nestlings even though they don’t song it for a year

List 3 basic costs to actions

• energetic

• risk

• opportunity

Describe energetic cost

the actions of the animals cost energy

Describe risk cost

increased chance of death, injury or infection as a result of the behaviour

Describe opportunity cost

potential benefits that are forfeited or lost from taking the action

What does optimal foraging predict? (2 points)

animals will make choices that maximise their energy intake

• the more rapidly they can take in the fuel they need, the less opportunities are lost and the fewer risks are taken

List 5 things that food will vary on

• how easy it is to find

• how easy it is to proces

• energetic value

• nutritional value

• palatability

Give an example of a foraging trade-off

crabs prefer mid-sized mussels as a prey item

• large mussels are easy to open but contain little inside

• large sized mussels contain alot of meat inside but take alot of time to open

Describe the landscape of fear

animals can carry a mental map of areas to avoid or limit their time there

What does the ideal free distribution model describe?

how animals should optimise where they forage to maximise their intake

Define ideal

animals have a perfect knowledge of the environment and the quality of patches

Define free

animals are free to move between patches

List 3 resource defenses that dung beetles undergo

• roll dung away to bury

• make a ball within the pat

• tunnel into the soil beneath to make an egg chamber

List 3 advantages of living in groups

• vigilance

• dilution

• group defence

Define vigilance

multiple animals are able to scout for predators

Define dilution

when attacked, there’s numerous possible targets so any individual is less at riskD

Define group defence

groups may be capable of fending off threats that individuals are not

Give an example of reciprocal altruism

a vampire bat who has eaten will feed another bat with the expectation of being fed back in the future

Define an honest signal

things that can’t be cheated (horn size)

Define an honest signal

something that misinterprets your condition or status

Define batesian mimicry

undangerous species looking like dangerous species

Define Mullerian mimicry

dangerous species looking like other dangerous species